State of North Carolina

State of North Carolina

Department of Public Safety Prisons

Chapter: Section: Title:

Issue Date: Supersedes:

F .0605 Community Resource Council 11/1/2017 09/10/07

POLICY & PROCEDURES

.0605 The purpose of this policy is to describe the Community Resource Council by which citizens are identified and approved to provide services to the staff and the offender population. Rehabilitative Programs and Services will designate a coordinator who will be responsible for coordinating the Community Resource Council within Prisons.

(a) General

Community Resource Councils are developed to provide orderly assistance in stimulating community involvement and to promote volunteerism in correctional facilities throughout the state. Council activities shall be governed by Department of Public Safety and North Carolina Prisons' policies and procedures.

Each Prison facility will organize and maintain a Community Resource Council. Councils will be established based on the mission and function of each facility. Upon written justification, a facility may request a temporary exemption from the requirement of having a council through the chain of command with final approval by the Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services. A copy of the temporary exemption will be maintained on file at the facility, and in the offices of the Region Director and Office of Citizen Participation.

(b) Statement of Purpose

(1) Councils shall be governed by an established statement of purpose approved by the Director of Prisons. Copies of this purpose statement will be maintained in the Office of the Director of Prisons and Office of Citizen Participation.

(2) Facility heads and council chairpersons shall clarify the specific mission and purpose of their Community Resource Council. Goals and short-term objectives should be developed and updated annually to provide positive leadership and recognition of members for the achievement of correctional goals established by the local facility, the correctional administration, and the Community Resource Council.

(3) Issues not addressed in the by-laws should be resolved at the discretion of the individual councils consistent with applicable departmental policies and state law.

Page 1 of 6

11/1/17

Community Resource Council

(c) Role of the Designated Facility Community Resource Council Coordinator

The role of the Facility Community Resource Council Coordinator shall be to manage the Community Resource Council by assisting with arrangements for meetings, notify the Office of Citizen Participation with changes in appointments, ensure that a copy of the Community Resource Council Reporting Form has been forwarded to the Office of Citizen Participation each quarter, distribute a copy of the Community Resource Council Quarterly Report to council members and update the Community Resource Council Appointment/Reappointment application and all other forms related to policy and procedures of the Facility and Prisons. The application and other pertinent information should be filed in a secure location at the facility.

(d) Appointment

(1) The facility head will recommend individuals to serve as council members. Each facility head may confer with local community leaders during the selection process. The Community Resource Council Appointment/Reappointment application will be completed by each individual wishing to become a member of the Community Resource Council will be submitted directly to the Director of Prisons for consideration. Appointees must be at least 21 years of age.

(2) The Director of Prisons shall appoint council members to two-year terms. Council appointments will be made annually with appointments effective January 1 of each year. When unscheduled vacancies occur, new appointees will serve the unexpired term of the council member and may be eligible for reappointment to a full term.

(3) All council members serve at the pleasure of the Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Correction.

(e) Recruitment

While it is recognized that council members serve at the pleasure of the Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Correction, the following should be considered when recruiting individuals for the Community Resource Council:

(1) Persons who have or have had an intimate, romantic or unduly familiar personal relationships with an offender prior to the offender's incarceration including, but not limited to intimate, romantic or unduly familiar physical contact, conversation or correspondence may not provide volunteer services for that offender nor may they provide volunteer services at the facility the offender is housed. Offenders and Community Resource Council members are not to correspond with each other by phone or letter unless prior approval is granted by the Facility Head.

Page 2 of 6

Chapter F .0605

11/1/17

Community Resource Council

(2) Employees of Prisons shall be considered to serve as a Council member at the facility where they are employed.

(3) In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees will not perform the same type of duties as a Council member, which they perform as part of their Department of

Public Safety job responsibilities.

(4) A relative of a Prisons employee will not serve as a Council member at the facility where their relative is employed. Relatives approved as Council members shall be restricted from any program involvement that may lead to undue familiarity with offenders.

(5) Employees approved as Council members shall be restricted from program involvement that may lead to undue familiarity with offenders.

(6) Employees who have received disciplinary sanctions up to and including termination for violating agency sexual abuse or sexual harassment policies will not be approved as a volunteer.

(7) Former employees are eligible to serve as a council member unless the employee resigned under circumstances listed below;

? engaging in undue familiarity with an offender; ? writing or discussing personal affairs with an offender; ? borrowing anything from or lending anything to, or accepting gifts or

personal services from, or barter or trade with any offender to include cards, letters and telephone cards; ? bringing any type of contraband into a prison; ? using their knowledge of the prison system to circumvent policy; and ? other acts of misconduct or personal behavior that undermines security or corrective treatment

(8) Individuals with criminal records may be considered to serve as a Council member after one year of unsupervised involvement in the community with no additional arrests. Individuals who have been convicted of a sexually related offense are prohibited from serving as a Council member. This also applies to all individuals identified as sex offenders.

(9) An immediate family member of an offender may not provide services as a Council member at the facility where the offender is housed. Immediate family member is defined as parent, child, step-parent, step-child, sibling, grandparent, aunt/uncle, spouse (married or common law), nephew/niece or in-law.

(f) Community Resource Council Activities

Page 3 of 6

Chapter F .0605

11/1/17

Community Resource Council

(1) Volunteers. The council should be involved in recruitment of volunteers to assist in providing volunteer services and/or fundraising activities at the facility for staff and offenders.

(2) Fundraising. Guidelines for special local fundraising must be developed to assure appropriate documentation of receipts and expenditures. If a major (anything greater than $5,000) fundraising project is contemplated, such as for the construction of a religious services center, a separate fundraising body must be established and incorporated as a nonprofit organization. All fundraisers greater than $5,000 must be submitted for approval on the "Facility Community Resource Council Fundraising Request" form and submitted to the Office of Citizen Participation for review and approval by the Director of Prisons, the Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services with final approval by the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and the Controller's Office prior to commencement of the project..

(3) Program Activity. Acceptable program activities for council volunteers may include assisting offender families in understanding prison policies and procedures, providing workshops for staff on relevant issues, providing or assisting with services that aide in the pre-release planning and preparation of offenders, supporting staff appreciation programs, supporting agency goals and programs or generating in-kind contributions of equipment and supplies. Any in-kind contribution in an amount greater than $1,000 shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety.

(g) Meetings

(1) Councils must meet at least four times a year unless they have received a written exemption from the Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services or designee. Requests must be submitted by the council chairperson with approval of council membership.

(2) To conduct business at a regular or special meeting, a quorum of 40% of the total active Council membership must be in attendance. Each council should have at least a minimum of 9 members.

(3) Community Resource Council meetings are subject to the Open Meetings Law. Council meetings held at a correctional facility shall be open to the public subject to constraints of custody and security.

(h) Training

(1) A training program approved by the Office of Citizen Participation will be conducted by each facility Community Resource Council Coordinator for each council member.

Page 4 of 6

Chapter F .0605

11/1/17

Community Resource Council

Upon completion of training, members will sign the "Acknowledgement of Volunteer Training and Refresher form and will then be issued a Blue Volunteer Identification card.

(2) Training should be offered to Council members on a continuing basis to assure efficiency of operations and the achievement of Prison goals.

(3) Each Volunteer shall sign guidelines pertaining to the following:

? Rules and Regulations concerning the handling of their identification card ? Entrance and Exit policy ? The expectations of his or her role ? Dress codes ? What may be taken in or out of the facility ? How to respond if the facility goes into an emergency mode of operation ? Security practices ? Undue familiarity with offenders (including corresponding either by phone or

mail) with offenders, ? PREA ? Non-Disclosure (Confidentiality of information) ? Cell Phone and Tobacco violations ? Other information deemed pertinent to the safety and security of the Facility

(4) The completion of the training is to be documented on the "Acknowledgement of Volunteer Training and Refresher" form and maintained on file at the facility. Criminal background check and PREA are to be updated annually.

(i) Reporting

A copy of the Quarterly Facility Activity Report Form of each council meeting shall be submitted to the Office of Citizen Participation after each council meeting. The facility coordinator shall maintain a copy of the report along with minutes of each meeting. A Quarterly Community Resource Council report shall be compiled from all reports submitted to the Office of Citizen Participation and distributed to appropriate staff including the Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Correction.

Page 5 of 6

Chapter F .0605

11/1/17

__________________________ Director of Prisons

F.0605_11_1_17.doc

Community Resource Council

11-1-2017 Date

Page 6 of 6

Chapter F .0605

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download